Murderers registry, other laws take effect
SPRINGFIELD — The holidays are a tough time of year for Patricia Rosenberg of Batavia, who finds it hard not to dwell on the murder of her daughter Andrea Will in 1998.
Yet, this year, Rosenberg takes a certain amount of comfort in a new state law that takes effect today requiring freed murderers to register with police in the community where they live.
Called Andrea's Law, it is one of more than 200 new state laws that begin today, from new rules on wearing seat belts to a ban on fake marijuana.
“Jan. 1 will be the highlight of what are generally the hardest days that I have,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg spent much of 2011 fighting for the law named after her daughter, an 18-year-old Eastern Illinois University student killed by her ex-boyfriend.
Andrea's Law requires all convicted first-degree murderers to sign up for a registry similar to the state's sex offender registry. Will's killer, Justin Boulay, was released from prison in 2010 after serving 12 years.
Rosenberg led the charge for the law — along with GOP state Rep. Dennis Reboletti of Elmhurst and state Sen. John Millner of Carol Stream — by testifying in front of lawmakers.
“Everything was just so positive,” Rosenberg said.
Reboletti said 4,285 convicted murderers in Illinois will be required to register immediately, with around 200 more each year leaving prison.
Not all legislation that kicks in today carries the same emotional heft as the murderers registry, but the new laws will affect many residents of the suburbs.
Here's a look at some of them.
Buckle up in back
Starting today, people riding in the back seats of cars must wear their seat belts in Illinois or risk the driver getting a ticket.
Previously, people over age 18 in Illinois could legally ride in the back seat without wearing a seat belt.
State Rep. Mike Tryon, a Crystal Lake Republican, said the plan has some critics who don't think the government should require seat belt use.
But, he said, the use of a seat belt is basic safety and should apply to everyone in the car equally.
“I can't imagine riding in a car without a seat belt,” Tryon said.
Police would ticket the driver if someone in the back seat isn't buckled up. Drivers of taxis and limousines are exempt.
The legislation was sponsored by the late Rep. Mark Beaubien, a Barrington Hills Republican. Tryon helped carry the plan while Beaubien was ill. Senate President John Cullerton also helped lead the push.
“The lives of people in the back seat are just as important as those in the front seat,” said Cullerton spokesman John Patterson.
Electronics recycling
Old televisions, fax machines, computers, cellphones, video recorders and other electronics are banned from landfills and no longer will be accepted as garbage.
Instead, owners will have to drop them off for recycling.
The law is meant to reduce pollution from heavy metals used in some electronics and to divert up to 60 million pounds of electronics from landfills in 2013, said Mike Mitchell, executive director of the Illinois Recycling Association.
More sensitive law books
A plan to rewrite the state law books to eliminate terms offensive to the mentally and physically disabled takes effect today.
The plan, spurred by Palatine-based attorney Kerry Lavelle, rewrites all of Illinois law to replace terms like “mentally retarded” with “intellectually disabled” and “crippled” with “physically disabled.”
Lavelle took the idea for the law to state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine, saying the use of the offensive terms left him “fuming.”
“Those are two very bad, archaic, nondescriptive words,” Lavelle said when first outlining his plan earlier this year.
The 623-page plan is now law, following other states and the federal government, which have made similar changes.
Illegal laser pointers
It is now against state law to aim laser pointers at airplanes, an increasing problem that interferes with the vision and concentration of pilots when they take off and land.
O'Hare International Airport has the second-most incidents of pilots reporting laser pointers in the country, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Sometimes the FAA can already report people aiming laser pointers at planes to law enforcement, but the new law creates state-level charges that can be used to prosecute anyone who is caught.
Fake marijuana
After a previous attempt by state lawmakers to ban fake marijuana sold as potpourri and called K2 and “spice,” manufacturers changed the chemical compounds to make their products legal once more.
Starting today, the law casts a wider net in an effort to catch all the compounds sold over the counter that are often smoked for users to get the same high as marijuana.
“I hate to say it, but you're playing catch up,” said Rep. Dennis Reboletti, who sponsored the plan.
FOID card surrender
People with an order of protection issued against them must surrender their firearm owner's identification card until the order is lifted. Anyone convicted of domestic battery is ineligible to obtain or keep an FOID card.
Ÿ The Associated Press contributed to this report.